Roman’s first day of school was last Monday. I know I’m a little late posting but I’ll get to the reason in a bit. For now lets chat about school….

Before the first day of school, we had talked to Roman about it. We told him about all the friends he would make, and all the playing he would do. He was excited! He was out the door before we were with his lunch box in hand.

He was in the Navigator ready to go!

Ahhh….and here he is with his Dad. But wait….what is that you see???? Is that a half-smile half frown???

Awww…..there it is. The fear, the trepidation, the uncertainty!!! Yep. You can follow the emotions through the pictures. See, I’m not sure we explained that we would be back. Yeah, I left that part out as I was pumping up school.

Anyways, we walked him in. He sat down at a table and started playing a game with locks and keys. We talked to the teacher, said our goodbye’s and we were off. But there was still this uneasy feeling in my stomach. I kept telling everyone that I was probably more worried about it than him. Ahhhhh…..but Momma knows best. When I went to pick him up Roman and his teacher were sitting in the lobby waiting for me. I must have stopped dead in my tracks and looked like I got hit by a semi, because the teacher calmly told me that “Roman had a rough day”. Uh huh. So I said “what happened?” The teacher then informed me that he started crying at 10:30 and it lasted for about 45 min. My heart sank. I asked Roman what was wrong when he told me “I’m mad at you Mamma”. I asked why and the reply was “because you went to work”. SHATTER- My heart broke. I held back my tears as I told him it was okay and that I would always come and get him.

The rest of the week went the same way. Except there was hiding in the morning, yelling, and crying. I couldn’t keep it together at work. My concentration was blown. I couldn’t eat (which shows on the scale now), I was crying off and on. Basically a hot mess. Not a good look.

This week however, has been much better. He still hesitates in the morning but hasn’t cried once. My mind and heart are right again. Which I’m sure my boss appreciates.

So on to the other reasons I havent posted for a while (like that’s not enough or something!). Well here goes…my cousin is staying the summer with us. It’s a little hard adjusting to a 17-year-old living in the house and on the computer. Our new puppy is really sick. He’s eating dirt apparently and is currently sleeping at the vets. Sal went to Mexico (check the next blog). I had finals (two A’s). And hell…life was happening.

Well I know that this has been a long blog, and if you’re still reading….THANK YOU!!!

After what feels like forever, I finally finished my Associates. I now am the proud owner of a piece of paper that has my name on it next to something that says Business Administration. Even though it took forever it was and is completely worth all the effort it took me to get it.

I’ll give you all a little background on why this degree took so long. Lets start waaayyyy back at the beginning. Yes. 1999 when I graduated high school. Jeezzz it’s been forever, but I digress. I enrolled in college right after I graduated high school with a full load. Did I proceed to go? Um hell to the nah. I proceeded to party! Uh huh. Did the same thing the next semester. And all of this without ever dropping a class. Oh and count one more semester in there for good standing. So 3 full load semesters later and I have all F’s. OUTSTANDING! Ugh.

So finally figuring out that this wasnt magically getting me a degree I enrolled in the Air Force. Now don’t get me wrong, I am so glad I did, and wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t, but when you see those damn commercials about how you can go to school when you’re in the military….Bahahaha! Um not unless you want to be a plane mechanic. Which I did not. So I spent my time in the Air Force in Idaho and loved it so much I decided to stay and go to BSU after I got out. Well I went for a little over a year before I started to do the same thing as before. See above. Hey! I never said I was the brightest star in the sky! Anyways, I finally moved back home and started working on base here. I also started going back to the school here. Only this time I did MUCH better. I actually passed all of my classes with flying colors. Minus math. I got a couple C’s there, but C’s earn degree’s! Lol.

Anyways on to the pictures…

The day was absolutely full. I woke up super early…for me anyways and went out with Jake to go on a photo walk. We didn’t take many pictures cuz it was already crazy bright but I learned a lot more. So that was pretty cool. Then I ran to a massage and adjustment, then off to my hair appointment, then home to grab something to eat then up to the college!

I bet you’re wondering about Roman being on stage with me??? He ran up there to give me these roses! The crowd went crazy and I was completely speechless with joy. What a sweet sweet boy I have. :)!

Yep! There I am! About to graduate. A big thank you goes out to everyone who mad it possible for me to do this. You know who you are!

First off, I would like to say sorry to all of you that I usually comment on. I’ve been crazy busy lately, and really just havent wanted to be near the computer. I hope I caught up with some of you though! Hopefully more tomorrow. The weather is horrible right now and supposedly for the remainder of the week, so I’ll have plenty of time. The past week or so has been full of getting ready for taxes, finals, and Roman’s birthday. Super busy! I’m currently done with one final (ugh Western Civ II) and working on the paper for the next one.

Anyways, on to the title of the post! I have been thirsty for more EVERYTHING about photography lately. I found a couple of great tutorial sites about LR and natural light and….well everything that when I am on the computer and not doing homework at night I’m reading everything I can. I even put the photo of Roman’s crazy eyes in a Flickr critique group. And guess what!? It got ripped to shreds! Lol! But I’m happy about it! I was at a point for a couple of weeks where I was stuck. I know and knew that there is a ton more to learn, but I was stumped on what was next. Its like I saw all of these paths leading to a light, but wasnt sure what path I should take. So I think I’ve figured it out. Composition. I’ve learned the rule of thirds, now I need to pay attention to everything else in the photo too! Haha! Who woulduve thunk it? Ohh and I’m going to look into ISO. I hate going above 400 on my camera because they come out so grainy, and that’s usually not the effect I’m going for. I know you can get a good pic above this, but I havent figured out how to yet. So much to learn!

Boy’s are always dirty at this age aren’t they? He was laughing so hard that I actually caught a smile! Oh and the garden pic…yeah those are toys at the end. So far this garden (there are two) has had a bike ride over it like it’s a freakin BMX track or something, a dog jump all over it, and dog poop on it. Oh and its supposed to freeze tomorrow night. After our 90 degree weather last week I was sure we were on to spring! Ugh!!! So far all I have got to grow IN the garden are cucumbers strawberries and radishes. Not sure they will be here after tomorrow night though. UGH! Oh well, to tell you the truth I really enjoy my time in the garden. Even if nothing grows. Okay…that’s a lie 🙂 I better get one cucumber, one strawberry and one radish at this point!

How freaking awesome is the processing on this picture? I love it! Thanks to presets :)! What a beautiful day in sunny Southern California! I’m not even sure how hot it was! It was definitely hot enough to go swimming in the blow up dragon/volcano pool we have. 🙂 So the title of todays post has multiple meanings. One of them have to do with the rug rat you see above. The pool that was previously mentioned has a dragon on it. You have to go through his legs to go down the little slide. Roman for some reason is terrified of it. He has never let us blow it up, let alone get near it. For the last year he asks “what is dragon doing” when we go in the garage, which is quiet a bit. So weird because he loves the movie How to Train Your Dragon but he’s not having any of this one! But…today he actually let us blow up the pool and the majority of the dragon (not the head). He even went through the legs, as long as we were standing right there :). Growing up so fast, but still so little. I love it!!!

Another preset that I’m in love with! On to the remaining milestones. One and a half were reached today! First…I got a promotion! Freakin soooooo excited! I have the best boss ever, and am so thankful to have had him! Its great when the big guy takes care of his employee’s! I officially feel like I’m a big kid at Journeyman Level! Thank you!!!

The half…I picked up my diploma for my Associates of Business Administration! I finished back in December, but just now got the diploma :). Trying to decide if I’ll “walk”. I wont for my B.S. because it’s all the way in Alabama, so…. Yeah, not sure yet. I’ll figure it out. What an amazing Monday! I plan on carrying on the momentum for the rest of the week :)).

I finished the first week of my second term today. At the end of each week a test with essay and multiple choice answers is due. This didnt seems like a problem last term. Maybe because the classes were pretty easy. Case Law and Intro to the school. This term however is no joke! I have 6 chapters (more than 300 pages) to read and test on by next Tuesday, and that’s only 1 class! The other class has 2 chapters thank goodness! I think my construction teacher guy is off his rocker! Be forwarned that I may not get a chance to visit your blogs 😦 as frequently or respond as soon as I usually do. This school thing is really getting in the way of everything fun in my life… Ugh. But….Im almost done!!!!!!!!! Plus, who am I kidding I actually love school. Im nerdy like that. 😉

Let me start off by saying I ABSOLUTELY love taking pictures. I love playing with them in PSE and I love posting them for all to see, but I am soooo frikin tired. I feel like I have run 10 miles and back and did it again. It has nothing to do with photography and everything else to do with whats going on in my life. There’s nothing horrible going on or extremely taxing (anymore), but I am exhausted.

Now please don’t think that I’m complaining in this next part; I’m just merely explaining a little. I go to school full-time, work full-time, and have a little family. I am beyond busy and getting on the computer after doing homework or whatever-it-is-I-do-that-sucks-my-energy-out, is the last thing I feel like doing right now. However, I made a pledge to myself to do this 365 photo challenge and I have been amazed at how much I have learned and at how much I have fallen in love with photography. I know I have missed a few days, and a lot more than a few days have been sub par pictures, even for my standards, and I don’t have high ones when it comes to my ownbpersonal photography :)~, but I plan to keep going. I may not write as much, post multiple pictures, or comment as frequently on other peoples amazing blogs for a week or so. It’s okay though, because when I come after my half-assed sabbatical, I’m coming back full force!

I read Kim Klassen’s blog a lot and she picks a word every year as her motto. I have never done that before, and to tell you the truth I wasnt going to. While I thought it was a great idea and I loved reading why she choose her word, I figured goals were enough for me this year. That is until I had the urge to do something drastic; like cut my hair! My hair is thick and finally healthy again and down to my waist. I love the color, I love the cut, so why would I want to cut my hair?

Well, my dear cousin pointed out something to me years ago that even I didn’t know about myself. I tend to cut my hair or get a tattoo when something big is going on in my life. I try to pay more attention now when I start to feel like that. So I started paying attention today, and came to some conclusions. This year is all about change. Change for the better. I am changing, Sal is changing, and Roman is changing. I couldn’t specifically tell you what I’m changing, because I’m not sure yet. I feel this urge to go do something big. I have always had this driven nature, and I’m not sure where it will take me. I feel that I perform best during high pressure situations and where I have a lot of responsibility. Who’s knows though, maybe I will learn to love low pressure and the slow lane this year. Sal is going back to school and making big moves when it comes to work. Both of which are huge things! And Roman, well Roman is constantly in a state of change. He’s learning more and more every day. He’s growing right in front of my eyes! This year he will be switching from the home day care that he’s been at since he was 3 months old to preschool. With all of the change, it’s that one change of Roman’s that is getting to me the most.

I feel like he’s been there so long they are his family and he is their family. I worry about how he will like school, and if I am making the right decision. His day care provider has taught him a ton, and loved him like his own. I worry about the bond they have and if separating them is the right thing to do. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that I am making the wrong decision, but in the end I know that preschool will be great, and she will always be involved one way or another. After all, she is one of my dearest friends. And when we have another one, I hope she’ll be ready to take crazy Ramirez kid #3!

Today was the first day of school for the Community College here, and guess who’s going? Yep, that man right there! I’m super proud of him for going! I know how intimidating it can be to go back to school after being out for so long, and it takes a lot of courage. I love when I see the 70-year-old grandpa’s and grandma’s in class going back and getting their degree just because. It’s never to late to learn.

So now there are two students in the house. Sal is taking math this semester and I’m still full-time working towards that elusive B.S.. I said B.S. haha! Okay, I had to throw in a school yard joke. 🙂

As many of you know I’ve been going to school now for what seems like an eternity. I started off working on my Biology or Chemistry degree…you pick one, because I couldn’t, but with work it was nearly impossible to finish. The labs are usually during the day, and living in Ridgecrest I wouldn’t have been able to finish my Bachelors. So I switched it up about a year ago and started working towards a Business Administration Associates.

So today I had an appointment at the college to talk to the counselor about the remaining classes I needed since I knew I was close and wanted to finish up next semester. It turns out that they hadn’t given me credit for a class I had already taken and had given me wrong information about a class that I supposedly needed. Which means…..I’M DONE!!!! Woooo Hooooo!!! I filled out the form to have my diploma mailed to me in 6-8 weeks!

I start working towards my Bachelors on the 1st of December and should be done about this time next year since I already have a ton of credits (remember previous degree)? So while it’s a little after 10 years of graduating highschool, I’m still stoked that I’m accomplishing something for myself, and for Roman.